Fiona Pennisi-Mitchell, Beauty is Pain (OCEAN - Entries close 30 November 2026)

This image was taken on Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island), Queensland, during a whale-watching trip. The beach was scattered with hundreds of bluebottles that had washed ashore, and my eldest daughter received a mild sting while running along the sand. That unexpected moment inspired me to look more closely at something that was both beautiful and capable of causing pain. I wanted to isolate a single bluebottle against the softly blurred shoreline, highlighting the contrast between its delicate, jewel-like appearance and its painful sting. The image was photographed handheld using a Canon EOS 600D with a Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II lens at 50mm, 1/250 sec, f/11, ISO 100. Processing was minimal, with only a slight crop to refine the composition and preserve the scene as I encountered it.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.